​BEST strives to create a world in which no one is trafficked. We recognize that the key to preventing human trafficking and increasing the reporting of trafficking incidents lies in educating employees. Front line staff who work directly with the general public can witness the warning signs of human trafficking and report it. That's why BEST recently joined forces with three more state hotel associations to provide human trafficking awareness training. The Washington Hospitality Association, the California Hotel and Lodging Association, and the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association have all recently partnered with BEST to offer Inhospitable to Human Trafficking training to their members.
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BEST's training explains the truth about human trafficking in hotels, and helps staff recognize potential human trafficking situations and report suspected trafficking activity to their managers. Hotel management can then contact law enforcement to safely intervene and recover victims. BEST’s training has been proven to increase hotel staff reporting, and survey results show that after receiving training, 96 percent of hotel employee participants believe that BEST’s training made their hotel safer.
By partnering with these large state hotel associations, BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking training will now be free to more than 7,800 lodging facilities throughout Washington, California and North Carolina.


Washington

The Washington Hospitality Association Education Foundation partnered with BEST in January 2019 to begin offering training to their Washington Hospitality Association members’ and their teams free of charge. This was not the first time BEST has joined forces with the association. The two have been partners in trafficking prevention work since 2012. Both organizations are active participants with the Washington State Task Force Against the Trafficking of Persons, and both have been instrumental in driving human trafficking prevention work in Washington state.

“We are woven into the fabric of the daily lives of our guests and team members,” said Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association. “As a result, hospitality industry leaders are recognizing the important role we play in preventing and ending this crime. Hotels take profound pride and responsibility in serving and protecting all guests.”
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California

The California Hotel & Lodging Association (CHLA) was instrumental in pushing the California State Legislature to pass Senate Bill 970 (Atkins), which was signed into law in September 2018. This new law requires that California lodging establishments provide at least 20 minutes of training and education in human trafficking awareness to each employee who is likely to interact with victims of this crime. California now requires that hotels provide their staff with human trafficking awareness training by January 2020 and re-train every two years. CHLA partnered with BEST in January 2019 to begin providing training for their members to help California hotels meet this new requirement.
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“Our industry is a long-time advocate in the prevention, identification and notification of human trafficking. By working closely with Senator Atkins last year on SB 970, we ensured our shared goal of consistently and effectively training our employees to spot and report incidents of human trafficking was met,” said Lynn S. Mohrfeld, President and CEO of CHLA. “We are confident that the training provided by BEST will allow the California hotel industry to be a leader in the battle against human trafficking, while helping to protect employees and innocent victims.”


North Carolina
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Recognizing the hotel industry’s proximity to the activities of human trafficking, Lynn Minges, President & CEO of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA), sought the expertise of BEST to help protect North Carolina’s hoteliers and to help ensure the safety of their guests. NCRLA partnered with BEST in February 2019 to provide free human trafficking training for NCRLA hotel members and their employees. By partnering with BEST to offer this free training, NCRLA is now offering their hotel and lodging members a way to educate hotel employees to help prevent human trafficking.
 
“We have a responsibility to our members and to the communities we serve to be educated about the serious issue of human trafficking,” said Minges. “We have a unique opportunity to have a significant impact tackling this humanitarian crisis if we equip our employees to recognize and report any suspected trafficking activity.”

Helping hotel owners and their staff prevent human trafficking is important to the Econo Lodge Franchisee Association (ELFA). That’s why they recently partnered with BEST to provide training at five regional conferences across the nation. BEST delivered Inhospitable to Human Trafficking Training (ITT) to help ELFA’s hotel owners understand how they can recognize and report the signs of potential human trafficking. Hoteliers were trained in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Joliet (Illinois), Atlanta, and Anaheim. The goal of these regional trainings is for the hotel owners to go back to their hotels and pass on the ITT training they received to their own staff who work at over 830 Econo Lodge properties in the Choice Hotels system.
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ELFA’s commitment to addressing the issue of human trafficking was spearheaded by Manish Desai, ELFA President, who says understanding how to prevent trafficking is a current concern for hotel owners. “It’s very important to any hotel. We know this is happening throughout the world at hotels, and it’s not just hotels, but at gas stations, rest stops and other places too,” Desai says. “It’s important for all of our hotel employees to know what to look for so we can help keep trafficking from happening at our hotels.“ Desai has pledged to help prevent the abuse and harm that comes with human trafficking by educating ELFA hotel owners and their staffs so they can be comfortable talking about this topic and learn how to report trafficking situations to law enforcement.  

According to Louis Smith, Executive Director for ELFA, BEST’s training program is relevant and current in teaching what hotel owners need to know about human trafficking. “Throughout the presentation there is a lot of information that is very new to a lot of hotel owners. The under-age element is especially helpful for hotel owners to understand. Many of them just don’t know a lot about it and how it’s dangerous to ignore a potential trafficking situation happening at your hotel location,” Lewis explains. “BEST’s presentation sheds a light on the problem, and it’s actual information that hotels can use. This training helps show hotel owners what they can do to avoid finding themselves in a role they don’t want to be in.”

Autumn Burris, the trainer BEST sent to lead the trainings held in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Anaheim, agrees.  “It was important for the people who attended my trainings to get the tools they could use to handle a situation that can negatively affect their business,” she explains. Burris is the Founder and Director of Survivors for Solutions, an organization that helps sexually exploited women through advocacy, community education, and public policy. She’s a former exploited woman herself who has 20 years of experience advocating for victims. Much of Burris’s work is dedicated to helping pass anti-trafficking laws at all levels of government, and making sure legislation is survivor-informed in order to truly help protect trafficking victims. She is pleased to see the recent legislation passed in Minnesota, California, and New Jersey requiring human trafficking awareness training be provided to hotel employees. Burris believes that many other states will soon follow in mandating hotel employee training as well.

Burris says BEST’s training is helpful in getting hotel owners to see the importance of protecting their business and keeping all guests safe. “It opens up an opportunity for hotel owners to have a real conversation that needs to be had,” Burris says. “They don’t want to have trafficking happening in their hotel, and they want to know what to watch for. They want to know what happens when they call the police, and what happens if they don’t.” Taking BEST’s training and having the opportunity to have these conversations is a good way to help hoteliers understand that they have an important role in preventing human trafficking.

Smith shared a story about one hotel owner in Pennsylvania who attended ELFA’s Philadelphia regional training. “She described an incident at her hotel where they had to call the police to report a pimp. This led to a great relationship forming between the hotel and the local law enforcement. After a few times of having to call the police for help, that hotel got a reputation on the street as being a place where traffickers didn’t want to go,” Smith says. “That particular hotel is one where the manager has been very proactive in training all of her staff.” 

Providing BEST’s training at their regional conferences is helping ELFA’s individual hotel owners be able to have the important conversations to help them stop traffickers and work with law enforcement. This is critical for preventing human trafficking in hotels.  

In November, BEST began offering our newest training, the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience Training that we created specifically for employers in our Safe Jobs Collaborative. This new training is helping managers understand how to successfully supervise people who are survivors of human trafficking. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to managing someone who has lived through trauma, but this training is teaching managers how they can remain flexible, be more understanding, create a positive workplace culture, and support staff members who have lived through severe trauma.

In this training, managers are learning how long-term, complex trauma that involves abuse, violence, and pain affects the brain and body. The impact of many traumatic events over the course of a lifetime can cause physical, mental, and emotional symptoms in people that can last for years, even after the person is out of harm’s way. It’s important for Safe Jobs employers taking this training to thoughtfully evaluate their businesses’ workplace culture, as well as their own management styles, and consider whether they are creating a safe and inclusive environment for trafficking survivors and people with PTSD who may be more likely to experience triggers that can lead to stress in the workplace.   
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In addition, managers taking this training are learning how they can preventively reduce conflicts before they even happen and de-escalate stressful situations when they do arise. Supervisors will leave this training with an understanding of what they can do to help survivors who are transitioning into stable employment feel valuable, supported, and confident that they are now in a safe place to work.  

​BEST is working hard to prevent human trafficking and keep our youth of tomorrow safe today. BEST’s training and education is proven to reduce human trafficking by identifying victims earlier, and engaging businesses and employees to put a stop to trafficking.

The impact of our work can be seen in a recent incident where a young woman was recovered from a trafficker BEFORE she was exploited, thanks to the recently trained and alert hotel employees who stepped in and intervened.

Businesses Ending Slavery & Trafficking (BEST) is taking a stand against the victimization of children and at-risk people in our community. BEST works with businesses to use their power for good. This year alone, BEST worked with businesses to train hundreds of employees to be able to spot and report potential human trafficking situations, as well as help deter buyers from buying sex.
 
But we need your help. We need people like you to fund our work, so we can move even more businesses towards leveraging their resources to prevent human trafficking.  Please support us in creating a better world where children can grow up free from exploitation. BEST believes all children deserve the opportunity to strive towards their dreams. Because if she’s our tomorrow, we need to keep her safe today. 

​It’s not always easy to see—and it is incredibly prevalent. Traffickers take advantage of the privacy and anonymity offered by the hotel industry to exploit vulnerable youth. They work hard to operate discreetly, so that hotel staff and other guests can miss the signs of child sex trafficking, and because the victims are children, they are often too fearful to summon help from strangers. Hotel staff need to be able to recognize the warning signs of child sex trafficking, so they are able to help victims, protect their hotel’s brand reputation, and keep all hotel guests and employees safe.
 
While any child can become a victim of trafficking, youth who are homeless or runaways, LGBTQ, African American, Latino, Native American, and children who have been in the foster care system are most vulnerable to this type of exploitation. The sheer number of children being sex trafficked in the United States is troubling. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, they received reports totaling 5,544 potential cases of human trafficking in 2015. Of those tips, 1,621 cases involved children. And those are just the cases that are reported to the tip line. The problem is actually much larger. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says that 1 out of every 6 of the 18,500 children who were reported missing in 2017 were victims of child sex trafficking.
 
Not only are these numbers staggering, but the negative impact this kind of sexual abuse and trauma has on children is abhorrent. Jane Charles, co-founder of the non-profit organization, StolenYouth, puts the problem into perspective, “People are selling children to other people so that those people can then have sex with them. This is the human rights issue of our time. Good people who see this happening must speak up and be the voice for vulnerable children.” Hotel staff who have daily interaction with guests are in a unique position to be that voice if they suspect potential child sex trafficking.

Know the warning signs

Anyone under the age of 18 engaging in a commercial sex act is a victim of human trafficking, with no exceptions. The following is a list describing some warning signs hotel employees can be aware of to help recognize a minor who is potentially being sex trafficked.
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• Adult checking in with an un-related minor
• Absence of luggage
• A person who looks very young but is dressed and behaving like an adult
• Lack of eye contact from the minor
• Evidence of violence, abuse or intimidation
• Signs of unusual fear, anxiety or submission
• Young person is dropped off by an adult who waits in the parking lot
• Young person asks staff for help, food or money

Provide employee training

​It’s important that all hotel employees receive human trafficking awareness training, and that training is offered frequently and when new employees join a hotel staff. Dr. Mar Brettmann, the Executive Director for BEST, says that proper employee training can change staff attitudes about prostitution. “There is a mistaken belief that prostitution is a victimless crime, which can cause some staff to fail to act. Training helps shift the attitudes about sexual exploitation and fosters empathy for the people who are being exploited,” Brettmann explains. “This is especially important when the person being exploited is a minor, because children cannot consent to a commercial sex act. If they are under 18, it’s always going to be a human trafficking situation.”

BEST offers Inhospitable to Human Trafficking, a 30-minute online hotel employee training course that can be taken individually or in a  group training led by a manager. The training is available in English or Spanish, and it has been proven to increase hotel employee reporting. Researchers from the University of Washington evaluated BEST's hotel training and found significant social change as a result of the training. Employees were more comfortable coming forward to report incidents to their mangers, with surveys showing that 8% of participants reported an incident before taking BEST’s training, compared with 44% reporting a potential human trafficking incident after training. In addition, 96% of hotel employee participants believe that the training makes their hotel safer.

Work with law enforcement

When employees feel encouraged to come forward and report potential child sex trafficking to managers, hotels should have a plan in place for how mangers will report the suspected trafficking to authorities. Not only is this important for recovering missing and exploited children, but it’s essential the hotel respond appropriately in order to protect their liability if a child is being abused on their property.
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Misidentifying an incident is a fear for many hotel managers. The best solution is for employees to report suspected incidents to managers, and managers be trained to quickly yet calmly report the suspected trafficking to local law enforcement. Good communication and strong relationships with law enforcement are key. Hotel managers can foster a relationship with their local law enforcement before an incident arises to make sure they are reporting correctly. If appropriate, mangers can request law enforcement come without sirens to keep the situation from escalating for the victim as well as other guests. But if a hotel manager believes a child is actively being abused, Brettmann urges them to err on the side of action. “If a child is in an emergency situation, we recommend hotel managers call 911 immediately. Increasingly, states have laws that hold the hotel owners accountable if their staff fail to make that call.” Brettmann says. Hotels that have a plan in place to intervene and report child sex trafficking to law enforcement will be taking a critical step in helping recover young victims.   

The real heroes in the war against human trafficking are often people doing everyday jobs who notice when something is unusual. Human traffickers often use hotels as the site of their crimes, but diligent hotel employees who have been trained to recognize and report a potential trafficking situation can make all the difference in the life of someone who has been trafficked. For this reason, BEST is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association (THLA). BEST and THLA have teamed up to provide online Inhospitable to Human Trafficking (ITT) training to THLA’s 3,700 hotel members.
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Starting September 10, 2018, BEST’s training will be provided to all THLA member hotels. BEST’s training explains the truth about human trafficking. Hotel staff and managers will hear from other hospitality professionals and law enforcement officers, as well as human trafficking survivors, in BEST’s video-based training. The goal of BEST’s ITT training program is to help hotel staff understand that human trafficking is not a victimless crime—trafficking is the exploitation of vulnerable people that leads to severe abuse, trauma, and violence. When human trafficking happens on hotel properties, it’s dangerous for victims, employees, and other guests of the hotel. It can also impact guests’ assessment of the safety of the hotel and damage brand reputation. BEST’s training explains, in detail, how hotel employees can recognize the signs of trafficking and report potential situations to management.
 
In order to protect both human trafficking victims and member brands, THLA is encouraging every hotel employee to receive training through BEST’s ITT training. BEST welcomes this new partnership and is grateful to the THLA for their commitment to preventing human trafficking and exploitation. It is sure to have an immense and positive impact in the lives of the men, women, and children who are being exploited in the great State of Texas.

CAMAS, Washington, Aug. 27 – AAHOA, the largest hotel owners association in the world, and Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) announced an expanded partnership in an effort to educate and enlist more hoteliers, state lodging associations, and hospitality industry partners in the fight against human trafficking. The expanded partnership includes a free co-branded anti-trafficking online training for AAHOA members and certification for those who complete the training. The trainings will be available in English and Spanish for group or individual training, and there is free training for managers. AAHOA’s and BEST’s partnership is also expanded to include promotion of the training through AAHOA’s vast network of state lodging associations and industry partners. AAHOA and BEST announced the expanded partnership at AAHOA’s annual Northwest Region Charity Golf Tournament.



AAHOA Chairman Hitesh (HP) Patel said, “With over 18,000 members who own one out of every two hotels in the United States and employ over 600,000 people, AAHOA is proud to build on our partnership with BEST to train more of our industry in how to identify and combat human trafficking. It can be difficult to identify trafficking, whether it is commercial sex trafficking or labor trafficking, because each situation is different. With the proper training, hoteliers and their employees can save lives, protect their guests, their reputations, and their businesses.”

Human trafficking is a crime that impacts some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, including American children as well as documented and undocumented immigrants who are coerced into prostitution or forced into work situations that they cannot leave. Hotel staff are often the eyes and ears of the community. They are well-placed to recognize the crime and help vulnerable people to escape exploitation, keeping our communities safe from this type of crime.

“Hoteliers are one of the first lines of defense against human trafficking,” said AAHOA President and CEO Chip Rogers. “Employees who know how to identify the signs of trafficking and are trained to respond appropriately can help keep criminal enterprises out of their communities and, more importantly, help trafficking victims. That's why AAHOA's partnership with BEST is so important – together, we can empower hoteliers and their employees to be the difference in stopping trafficking situations.”

“This is a significant development for BEST and AAHOA,” said Mar Brettmann, PhD, Executive Director of BEST. “With an increased awareness of human trafficking and its effects on victims and communities, more businesses are stepping up to help combat this exploitation. Hoteliers are playing a vital role in preventing this crime. By promoting anti-trafficking training throughout the industry, we can ensure that traffickers and people who buy exploited people cannot use hotels to commit their heinous crimes.”

BEST is a Seattle-based nonprofit that helps employers understand how they can stop human trafficking by consulting on best practices, providing employee trainings, and developing model policies for businesses. AAHOA and BEST have partnered together to educate the hotel industry since 2014. In 2016, AAHOA sponsored BEST to create industry-specific training that is available online at
http://training.bestalliance.org.

Recently, we were able to speak with Alison Galioto, VP of Operations for Hospitality Associates, a northwest based hotel management group, about why she has worked so diligently to make sure her hotel staff at their 26 hotels are trained on how to handle human trafficking. “Some of the activity is obvious,” Alison explains, “I’ve seen women wearing hardly any clothing and they would come in with a man who paid in cash. The paying in cash is a definite sign. Sometimes they said they didn’t have a bank account or were not able to check-in with a credit card in their name. Sometimes they would check in under a name you could tell was a false name.” But other times, Alison says, “It’s not always so obvious. If they wear everyday clothes, and they do use a credit card, and are not bringing in a lot of men, sometimes it’s hard to see. That’s why we want to do this training, so our staff are able to detect the less obvious signs of sex trafficking.”



​Though she’s a VP of Operations now, Alison started her career in the hotel industry working as a housekeeper for a hotel in Grand Coulee, Washington. From there she became a front desk clerk at a hotel in the Spokane Valley before moving on to become a general manager at a hotel in Seattle. Throughout her career journey, she has personally witnessed some of the tell-tale signs of sex trafficking in hotels. This knowledge and first-hand experience has made her even more dedicated to educating employees working on the front-lines. According to Alison, front-line staff first need to be aware that sex trafficking can happen even at nice hotels and it is not a victimless crime. Second, they need to know what indicators to look for and how to report the crime when it happens. Just these simple things can help more girls, boys, women, and even men, escape a life of sexual exploitation.

Alison shared a story with us about a time when her staff successfully intervened to help a young woman in need. The employees at the front desk heard two women arguing loudly in a public bathroom in the hotel. There was a young woman and an older woman, who had not yet checked in, and the employees were able to tell that the younger women was in distress. The two women took their argument to the parking lot where it became physically abusive. Judging that she was safe to do so, one of the front desk employees intervened in the argument and brought the young woman back into the hotel while the older women drove off. She explained to the front desk staff that she had been offered a ride to California, but instead was brought to the hotel where the older woman tried to coerce her into trafficking. The hotel manager called the police and the FBI Task Force came to help the young woman with her situation. It’s rare to have the chance to intercede before any sexual exploitation occurs, but this young woman was lucky enough to find herself at a hotel where the staff didn’t look the other way. Alison’s staff may have saved this young person’s life.
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It’s stories like this that make Alison determined to create a workplace culture where employees know what to do when they see potential sex trafficking. With 26 hotels in the ownership group, BEST was so thankful when they chose to partner with us for this training. In fact, Hospitality Associates have already trained their senior-level management at their corporate retreat last year and are now rolling out the staff training to all of their properties throughout Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and Montana. BEST is providing Hospitality Associates not only with training, but also with informational posters to be displayed in the employee break rooms, indicator cards describing possible warning signs, and instructions on what to do if staff see indicators of sex trafficking.

When we asked Alison if she had any advice to give to other VP’s who are thinking of implementing training, she said, “I had to really keep pushing for this training to happen, and I’ve been pushing for about two or three years. I know this is an uncomfortable topic, but you can present it in a way that makes it not uncomfortable. BEST’s videos really help with that. It’s important. It’s just part of running your business. These are some of the important talks we need to be having with our staff.”

BEST is proud to announce that Potelco has joined our Employers Alliance. Founded in 1965 and based in Sumner, Washington, Potelco provides comprehensive electric utility construction services. They employ 1,400 people across 12 regional offices and have a fleet of over 3,500 pieces of equipment. In 1998, Potelco joined the Quanta Services network.

Potelco originated as a family-run business and remains committed to the safety and improvement of the communities in which they operate. Potelco has an extensive Safety Program, ensuring the safety of their employees as well as that of the general public who benefit from the services they provide. As part of their commitment to corporate social responsibility, Potelco has worked to convert their vehicles to cleaner fuel and added electric vehicles to their fleet. Joining the BEST Employers Alliance is their most recent endeavor to use their business to improve people’s lives.

Potelco’s Vice President of Safety and Training, Bryan Sabari, has been the driving force behind their commitment to prevent sex trafficking and buying within their business and network. Sabari’s interest in this topic developed after learning that someone he knew was arrested for involvement in a human trafficking and prostitution ring. He was shocked that someone from his community in Bellevue could be involved in something so heinous. “I had no idea anything like this could happen in my neighborhood. I was naive to the fact that sex trafficking was happening at all, and I was shocked that no one seemed to be talking about it,” Sabari said.

Sabari reached out to BEST and he learned more about the crime of human trafficking. He found out that human trafficking can impact any industry. Through BEST, Sabari learned how critical it is for a company to take preemptive steps to be protected from risk while making the community safer. Most companies have policies that address things like drug use, sexual harassment, and use of company resources, so, Sabari surmises, “Why wouldn’t we have a policy letting our employees know that we are an inclusive workplace, and that we take a firm stand against sex trafficking?”
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Over the next year, Potelco will be incorporating new policies regarding these issues in their employee handbook and new employee orientation. They will also be providing employees with education on human trafficking awareness. As simple as it may seem, these actions have incredible power to reduce demand for sex trafficking victims and save future victims from being exploited and abused. BEST is thrilled that the team at Potelco has chosen to join the Employers Alliance and has committed to educate and train its 1,400 employees. We applaud Potelco’s outstanding level of leadership in the construction industry.

​​Visionary business leaders know how to inspire others. They see windows of opportunity within their company and know how to achieve solutions that bring positive change. Their success is an example to other professionals of how much can be accomplished if you dream big, develop relationships, and persevere.  This is certainly the case for Nicole Clifton, Vice President of Global Public Affairs for UPS. Clifton spearheaded the implementation of a new workplace policy against human trafficking at UPS, and she led the effort to provide human trafficking awareness training to more than 96,000 UPS employees nationwide.

​Clifton first became involved in the issue of human trafficking in 2013, when the State Attorney General of Georgia contacted UPS to help sponsor billboards for a human trafficking public awareness campaign in the Atlanta area. At the time, Clifton was not fully aware of the scope of the problem. She contacted a few human service agencies in the Atlanta area who specialize in working with victims, and she began to understand the importance of fighting this global crime. Clifton recommended that UPS sponsor the awareness campaign, but was also convinced that the company could do much more than simply write a check.  She lobbied for and received the support of senior UPS leaders to institutionalize several key practices to make a difference. 

Workplace Policy Matters

Clifton’s first goal was to strengthen the company policy to clearly prohibit using company resources to further human trafficking in any form. “UPS values are clearly stated in our Policy Book and Code of Conduct.  It made sense to start with a strong, clear policy that employees could easily access,” said Clifton.  She previously worked in the UPS Legal Department and reached out to those colleagues as well as others in Compliance and Human Resources to collaborate on the policy. Clifton found a colleague in Human Resources was familiar with the issue after having attended the Carter Summit on Human Trafficking in Atlanta in 2015 where BEST’s Executive Director, Mar Brettmann, led a two-day conversation with business leaders to help them adopt policies and best practices to prevent trafficking.

Clifton had to navigate many layers of management and build internal champions throughout the process. “Creating policy changes takes time, particularly in large companies.  There are many things to which we could devote attention and resources, so it was critical to personally reach out to the various stakeholders, educate them and listen to their concerns about the best way to move forward,” Clifton describes.  “I also had to be patient, because timing is everything when you are pushing for change in an organization. Patience and persistence paid off.”

It took six months to finalize the new workplace policy, which was ultimately approved and is now easily accessible on the internal UPS employee compliance and ethics website.  “A few weeks ago, one of our customers requested that we complete their survey which audited their suppliers on anti-human trafficking measures.  It was gratifying to be able to confirm that we already have our own policy and to know that our customers value this issue as well,” said Clifton.
 
Training an Army of Drivers

After implementing the workplace policy, Clifton believed the next logical step was to educate UPS drivers about the problem of human trafficking, to train them to look for red flags and provide a resource to anonymously report concerns.  UPS has more than 100,000 drivers who are already trained to be aware of their surroundings and operate safely in their community.  Engaging the company’s human capital made sense.  Clifton worked with the operations team for UPS Freight based in Richmond, Virginia to develop a small test pilot group of 1,500 drivers throughout 10 US cities. “I asked for UPS Freight because human trafficking often takes place at truck stops and travel plazas and I thought these drivers would be in a position to see something and report it,” Clifton explained. 

Clifton discovered that UPS had an employee on the Board of Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), a Colorado based non-profit dedicated to raising awareness in the trucking and logistics community.  She also discovered that TAT had already been working with UPS drivers in small isolated groups and this provided an ideal opportunity to scale the program.  

TAT customized their human trafficking awareness curriculum by creating DVDs and a webinar training.  Clifton relied on local UPS human resources and operations teams to rollout the messages and distribute TAT’s wallet cards that list warning signs and a phone number to report suspected trafficking activity. The UPS Freight pilot training went so well that many of the UPS drivers started voluntarily handing out wallet cards to other truckers at truck stops along their routes.  

When Clifton reviewed the results of the test pilot with the U.S. Operations President, he was so impressed that he gave her the green light to take the initiative nationwide to more than 101,000 UPS Freight and city drivers around the country.  He also recommended training UPS pilots who are in airports around the world every day and can also be allies in the fight.   
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UPS has extended training to approximately 96 percent of their 101,000 drivers nationwide and they are working on a plan to train their newly hired drivers.  The feedback from UPS employees has been phenomenally positive, and UPS is expanding efforts to help more, including working with the United Way on community-based training and hiring human trafficking survivors in partnership with an Atlanta based non-profit, Wellspring.  UPS has also partnered with the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign and is working on an awareness program for UPS pilots.
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Today, thousands of UPS employees know the signs to look for and know what they can do to help. Nicole Clifton’s perseverance has positively impacted the culture of her company and positioned UPS as an example for other companies. More importantly, though she may never see their faces or hear their stories, Clifton hopes that through UPS’s efforts, lives will be saved and restored for the better. 

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​Seattle isn’t a massive city by any means, but, like any metropolitan hub, a short visit can be overwhelming. Especially if a traveler waits a few years between visits, chances are a lot has changed.
 
That’s where Visit Seattle comes in. At least a couple of the top responses to the Google query “what to do in Seattle” are going to be links to the Visit Seattle website. That’s probably because they’ve been helping people answer this question for a long time.
 
The non-profit organization has been highlighting Seattle and King County’s most visitable features for the past 50 years.
 
Encouraging and facilitating tourism isn’t Visit Seattle’s only goal though, they also make a point of working with other non-profit organizations in the region. Visit Seattle attempts to mitigate the biggest problems facing the city, like homelessness, the opioid epidemic, and crime.
 
“All of those factors are tangential to human trafficking,” said David Blandford, Visit Seattle’s Senior Vice President of Public Affairs. “Those problems have a lot of dimension and we know that human trafficking does as well. We’re involved in all of those issues.”
 
One of the organizations they’ve agreed to partner with: Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST), in order to support their commitment to helping alleviate the problem of
human trafficking in Seattle..
 
Although BEST and Visit Seattle have worked together in some fashion for the last five years, the partnership was codified last December when Visit Seattle elected to become a member of the BEST Employers Alliance. Blandford explained this move just made the most sense.
 
“Aside from BEST,” Blandford said, “I’m not really sure who would take that leadership role here in the region.”
 
Visit Seattle also partners with several other organizations in the state, like the Washington Tourism Alliance and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. Most of these other partnerships are strategic and offer Visit Seattle some explicit advantages when it comes to achieving their goals as a destination marketing organization. With BEST, though, it’s slightly different.
 
“This is simply the right thing to do,” Blandford said. “It’s not necessarily to stimulate more travel. Rather, this is our city, these are our hotels, and we just need to stick together and work for change.”

​If you’ve ever considered donating to BEST, May 9 is the best day to do so because Business Ending Slavery & Trafficking (BEST) is participating in GiveBIG, an event hosted by the Seattle Foundation whose mission is to invest in the health and future of Seattle’s communities. GiveBIG is the one time of year that your donation dollars to BEST will be doubled or even tripled. Thanks to the generosity of BEST’s Board of Directors and special donors, all gifts will be doubled, and gifts of $100 or more will be tripled, making your gift even more impactful. This year, BEST’s goal is to raise $25,000 dollars to help interrupt and prevent human trafficking, and to build a pipeline to employment for trafficking survivors. Here’s how we do this:

We Raise Awareness about Human Trafficking 

BEST raises awareness about the impact of human trafficking on victims and employers. BEST provides online and in-person training to help employees recognize human trafficking and proactively prevent exploitation. Our online suite of training courses includes training for business leaders and general staff; training for managers and staff of hotels; and, in the next month, we will be releasing an online version of our Continuing Legal Education (CLE) course.

We Provide Professional Consulting for Washington's Business Leaders 

BEST empowers employers to help victims and prevent exploitation through their day-to-day business operations. BEST provides free resources, including; best practices to prevent sex trafficking, an online self-assessment, and strategic advice. BEST also supports employers to develop anti-trafficking strategies, as well as how to implement workplace policies and provide internal communications. Finally, employers who wish to publicize their leadership can join the BEST Employers Alliance.

We are Creating a Pipeline to Employment in King County

A lack of alternative employment opportunities is one of the most serious barriers for people seeking freedom from a trafficker. To address this problem, BEST’s Safe Jobs project connects people who have been trafficked with safe, stable employment. BEST provides Safe Jobs employers with training and support, while working with local service agencies to connect survivors who are seeking work with Safe Jobs employment opportunities.

You can Make a Difference

Support the fight against human trafficking in Washington by joining us for GiveBIG. Simply go to our Give BIG Profile Page to schedule your donation today. For your convenience, donations can be pre-scheduled any day after April 26, but will be processed on May 9th, the day of Give BIG. 

Back in 1986, Roger Blier, Richard Mueller, and Steve Esau, co-founders of the Kirkland-based company, Passport Unlimited, set out to build a new company that offered corporate employees an innovative and elegant way to receive discounts on restaurant meals without cutting coupons. Passport Unlimited partnered with high-end restaurants in the Seattle/Bellevue metro area to offer discounts for their corporate clients through membership cards their clients could provide to employees. Restaurant owners loved the cards—they brought in more upscale customers with spending power, while Passport Unlimited’s clients were able to provide a valued incentive benefit for their employees.

Since then, Passport Unlimited has been so successful, they have expanded their service to more than 75 Fortune 500 corporate clients. Today, not only do they offer discounts at over 800 high end restaurants nationwide, they have expanded to provide their clients with employee discounts on many other travel and retail purchases such as hotels, jewelry, automobiles, and spa services at over 11,000 participating locations.

It’s important to Passport Unlimited’s leadership team to create a company culture of sharing their success by giving back to the community. Along with their 40 employees, Passport Unlimited supports many non-profit organizations that are important to the founders and employees. One of the most critical social issues Passport Unlimited is dedicated to helping is the fight to end human trafficking.

​“Giving and helping others has always been something that has resonated with this company since day one,” explains Steve Esau, Vice President of Sales for Passport Unlimited. “We even have a team within our company that has representatives across different departments and their goal is to look for opportunities for how we can give back to the community.”

As a company, Passport Unlimited has financially supported BEST’s work to help eradicate human trafficking. Not only have they donated generously, Passport Unlimited was one of the first companies to join BEST’s Employer’s Alliance program, a partnership of businesses who collaborate to implement best practices in the workplace in order to prevent sex trafficking. In addition, BEST and Passport Unlimited are two of the founding partners in a local coalition between corporate businesses, government agencies, and non-profit agencies dedicated to eliminating human trafficking. The coalition is the Strategic Alliance to Fight Exploitation in Washington State (SAFE). In addition to BEST and Passport Unlimited, this coalition also includes: REST, OPS, Liberty Road Foundation, Vitality Enterprises, Edward Jones, 10/10 Strategies, Seattle Police Department, SILK, Rescue Freedom, Innovations Human Trafficking Collaborative, Human Point, Seattle Against Slavery, Trafficking Free, and the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

Passport Unlimited is so committed to opposing human trafficking that they have carefully reviewed their own internal employee polices and have re-written certain policies to reflect this value. They have educated their employees with raising awareness about the issue of human trafficking, and they clearly state that their company is strongly opposed to any form of exploitation.

Passport Unlimited is setting the standard to: 1) Educate their employees to prevent trafficking, 2) Set internal workplace polices that prevent human trafficking activity, 3) Financially support non-profits like BEST in order to fund the important work that is needed to eliminate human trafficking. BEST firmly believes that these are the corporate actions that will help change workplace culture and individual employee attitudes about human trafficking, sex buying, and exploitation.
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“This issue of human trafficking takes on something you can’t unhear,” describes Esau, “When I first heard about this, it was in a room where they were discussing the plight of women and girls in other countries like Ghana and Thailand. Then one of the people in the room stood up and said, ‘This is not just happening in other countries. This is happening right here in Bellevue, and in Kent, and in Tacoma.’ It tore my heart out. Tore the hearts out of everyone who was in the room. That is why we have to do something about this.”
 
 
For more information about Passport Unlimited, visit www.passportunlimited.com. For more information bout the Strategic Alliance to Fight Exploitation in Washington State, visit www.safeinwashington.com.

​If there is one industry that has eyes across the country, it’s the trucking industry. Its web of truck drivers stretches across the US, constantly moving and communicating in ways that can reach far into the daily lives of citizens. This puts truckers in the unique and important position to see all, hear all, and to be able to advise each other on the issues that matter, including the problem of human trafficking. In February, BEST supported Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) and the American Trucking Association (ATA) to launch the new “Man to Man Campaign.” The campaign is engaging some of the best professional drivers in the trucking industry who are sending out a message, loud and clear—that if there were no demand for purchased commercial sex, then sex trafficking would not exist. These men are encouraging other men to say NO to the crime of domestic sex trafficking, and instead they are urging their fellow truckers to keep an eye out to aid in the recovery of women and children who have been forced into this horrendous crime. 

“At the very root of the sex trafficking and sexual exploitation epidemic sweeping our nation and world is the demand,” said Truckers Against Trafficking Deputy Director, Kylla Lanier. “The prostituted person, and more recently, the traffickers have been the focus of attention and arrests, while the buyer goes home with a warning. This must change. Traffickers meet the demand for commercial sex by luring their victims into this life and keeping them there through force, fraud, or coercion. If there were no money to be made, they wouldn’t pursue this criminal activity.” Lanier adds, “When all is said and done, if there is no buyer, there would be no victim.”
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Commercial sex buying is one of the biggest problems today. In the market of sex trafficking, there are sellers (traffickers), buyers, and victims. Basic economics shows that demand is the most fundamental thing that drives market survival. Without a demand for purchased sex, there would be no sex trafficking victims. The Man to Man campaign takes a much-needed approach to helping eradicate sex trafficking by focusing on having men influence other men to remove the demand. 

​​This week, the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) teamed up with Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) to inspire more hotel owners to offer BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking training. The two organizations launched a new social media campaign that encourages AAHOA members to share a photo of themselves or staff members holding up their Inhospitable to Human Trafficking training completion certificate. The organizations hope to shine a spotlight on the importance of anti-trafficking training for the hotel industry and inspire more hoteliers to participate.

Anti-trafficking training is crucial in the hotel industry. Traffickers will go to great lengths to go unnoticed. For example, some have been known to sneak victims into hotels by passing them off as family members or by bringing them in through side doors. They do this to avoid getting caught. To help spot this kind of dodgy activity, it is important that all hotel employees, including front desk clerks and housekeepers, be trained to notice the warning signs of sex trafficking. BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking trains hotel employees on what to look for to notice suspicious situations, and report suspicions to managers. Managers are given in-depth training on how to respond.

AAHOA and BEST hope that the awareness campaign will boost the number of employees who receive anti-trafficking training, aid more hotel owners in protecting their business from illegal trafficking activity, help more trafficking victims to escape exploitation, and ensure that more hotels become places that truly are inhospitable to human trafficking.

For information on how to get BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking training for your hotel staff, visit: training.bestalliance.org.

Many employees in the hospitality industry speak Spanish as their primary language, yet training materials are often administered in English. In order to better serve the needs of the hotel industry, BEST has just launched a Spanish version of its valuable Inhospitable to Trafficking Training (ITT). This new Spanish version of ITT will be valuable in reaching more hotel employees and training them to be aware of the warning signs of a human trafficking situation occurring at their hotel. ITT explains how hotel employees can identify, safely intervene, and report potential human trafficking activities. Often Spanish speaking employees are on the front lines of noticing a potential sex trafficking situation occurring at a hotel, so the new Spanish version of ITT is vital, and will greatly benefit the hospitality industry.

The Spanish version of ITT was developed when BEST recognized a need for it while working with the Snohomish County Lodging Association (SCLA) to implement ITT training throughout its member hotels. The SCLA explained there is a sizable Spanish speaking workforce inside their member hotels and having training available in Spanish would be valuable. BEST submitted a proposal request to the board of the SCLA, requesting they fund the work of translating ITT into Spanish.

The request was approved, and BEST was allocated $5,000 to fund the Spanish translation project. Shawn Walker, Vice President of Operations and Human Resources at 360 Hotel Group in Lynnwood, was a strong advocate for ITT being translated to Spanish. “On behalf of hoteliers across the County, I want to send a huge THANK YOU to the Snohomish County Lodging Association. I am proud that the Board of Directors and general membership passionately embraced stepping forward to be BEST’s first language translation sponsor. With their vision and support, BEST has been able to fully translate their training materials into Spanish. A project that will benefit all of Washington,” Walker said. “As hoteliers we are critically aware of the role each of us and our hotels must play in supporting awareness and training. We also understand that in order to make hotels truly ‘Inhospitable to Trafficking’ we will need 100 percent of our team members on board. This starts with communication and training for everyone. And when we can communicate in someone’s native language, especially on a deeply emotional subject like human trafficking, we create better understanding, connection, and trust. This gives all of us the greatest opportunity to have our teams recognize and report situations that could make a huge difference in someone’s life.” 

Thanks to the SCLA’s keen foresight to tackle this need in the industry, Spanish ITT training is now available for all the hotel clients BEST serves. BEST would also like to thank the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau, and Executive Director, Amy Spain, for supporting the Spanish translation project, and for helping to implement ITT training across Snohomish County.

Carlson is one of the founding members of the BEST Employers Alliance. They experienced a great deal of change after selling their hotel operations in order to focus on their corporate travel management company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT). One thing that has not changed is their dedicated commitment to leading the fight against human trafficking. Now, CWT is forging new ground in the travel management industry by educating their employees with BEST’s online training, BEST Basics and BEST Leaders. Up to 18,000 employees of CWT will learn to identify and prevent sex trafficking within their day-to-day activities.
 
Carlson has always been ahead of their industry when it comes to raising awareness and funds to combat human trafficking. They have been working on this issue since the 1990s, when most hospitality businesses were afraid that if they addressed this problem it would cast a negative light on the industry.
 
“When [CEO] Marilyn Carlson took a public stand against sex trafficking, there were initial concerns about brand impact,” said Natalie Volin Lehr, Director of Corporate Affairs at CWT. “The outcomes have only been positive. Our commitment has sparked higher levels of employee engagement, increased our customer loyalty and enhanced our brand,” said Volin Lehr.
 
Even before they were members of the BEST Employers Alliance, CWT was committed to ethical business practices regarding the problem of child sexual exploitation. They were the first Untied States signer to the End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (EPCAT) Code of Conduct, and they created internal corporate policies to detect and deter human trafficking. They also trained and inspired their hotel staff to comply with these values. Carlson Wagonlit’s organization-wide code of business conduct and ethics states:
 
“The Company condemns all forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The    Company supports every child's right to a safe and secure childhood, and is committed to      the principle that everyone has the right to grow up and develop without fear of    exploitation or harm. The protection of children from sexual exploitation is a moral imperative, and socially responsible business   policies and practices must reflect this principle. The Company and its employees shall strictly comply with all applicable laws      and regulations regarding the prevention of the commercial sexual exploitation of children, including the prevention of the use of its premises for such exploitation.”
 
CWT also donates a portion of its profits to fund the Carlson Family Foundation. Since 2015, the organization has donated more than $1 million toward the issue of sex trafficking, supporting trafficking prevention efforts and services in their home state Minnesota and nationwide. Last year the foundation provided a grant to EPCAT for the creation of an employee training manual for all travel management and event companies. Even more recently, the foundation has focused on providing workforce development skills to survivors of human trafficking—a much needed role for businesses throughout the United States.

Looking forward, CWT has big plans. They have partnered with Clear Channel on the 2018 Super Bowl Anti-Trafficking Committee, and they will continue to fund organizations that prevent trafficking and provide jobs to human trafficking survivors.
 
CWT continues to inspire engagement by companies across sectors. Volin Lehr explains, “This issue is not confined to the hotel and travel industry. There are so many ways for all types of companies to get involved and make a real difference. BEST is a great example of the resources available to help.” Click this link to read more about Carlson’s responsible business practices.

On January 10, 2018, BEST held a joint press conference with the Port of Seattle, announcing a partnership between BEST and the Port.  This partnership is leading the nation in human trafficking prevention efforts being implemented at a major international travel hub, and it will implement a new strategy to aggressively work to eradicate human trafficking efforts in the Puget Sound region with a strategic plan that was jointly developed by BEST and the Port of Seattle. The plan will focus on four main areas:

• Ensuring all Port of Seattle employees have access to training and education
  
  
• Utilizing The Port’s facilities and communications channels to raise public awareness to the issue of human trafficking
  
  
• Collaborating with The Port, government agencies and private sector business partners to maximize impact
  
  
• Ensuring Port polices and procedures are up-to-date to report suspicion of human trafficking

​With over 45 million travelers moving through the Port of Seattle each year, this joint partnership between BEST and the Port is an opportunity to help break the cycle of human trafficking in Washington, which was estimated to have the 14th highest call volume to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2015.

“Human trafficking is not just a global issue, it’s a local issue,” said Courtney Gregoire, Port of Seattle Commission President. “The Port has been engaged in this topic for years, but now is the perfect opportunity to increase or regional leadership on this topic. As a major employer, an operator of an airport and maritime facilities, and a partner, we can do more to reduce demand, assist victims and raise public awareness.”

BEST is working diligently in this partnership to enhance employee training at the Port, and to help increase public awareness of the issue of human trafficking in and around The Port. The news conference on January 10 announced the partnership between BEST and the Port during National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The press conference resulted in three print news articles, four radio segments, and one television news story on KOMO 4 News.

Many attorneys receiving the invitation to BEST’s Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar might have wondered, “What does sex trafficking have to do with my job?” According to the distinguished panel of experts who shared their knowledge on this issue during the CLE, sex trafficking and buying are topics every in-house counsel, attorneys who advise employers, and plaintiffs’ attorneys should understand. Why? Because working professionals comprise a large percentage of sex buyers, and often use company time, resources, and property to solicit commercial sex.

Unfortunately, many of these buyers, knowingly or unknowingly, solicit commercial sex from trafficked persons, including children. Richey states, “Buyers are the direct and indirect cause of the harm experienced by people in prostitution. If there were no buyers, there would be no exploitation.” Indeed, the research into this “harm” is deeply troubling. 73% of prostituted people reported being physically assaulted by a buyer, 64-83% reported being threatened with a weapon, and a majority reported being raped. And the people causing this harm are almost exclusively men, have an above average education, are usually middle to upper class, the majority are white—and most importantly to the attorneys assembled for the CLE—employed by reputable organizations in our community. Sex buying is present in employee populations across a multitude of industries.

​John Lapham, General Counsel for Rover.com, describes the risks that this illegal activity poses for employers: civil and criminal liability, workplace culture, and company reputation are all at stake. According to Lapham, responsible employers help protect not only their own reputations, but also victims of trafficking when they strive to create an environment in which employees understand the risks of sex buying and the harm it causes to trafficked persons, families, and even the buyers themselves. Instituting appropriate policies and procedures can also be part of fostering a healthier workplace environment, where sexism and sexual harassment are not tolerated. 

​Thankfully, employers and employment attorneys can work together to create a safe and healthy workplace environment by crafting policies that educate employees and mitigate these risks. Lapham highlighted the different ways employers can address this issue through tactics such as providing employee trainings, creating explicit company policies regarding illegal behavior and sex buying, fostering a healthy work environment, and implementing technology-based interventions (such as blocking certain sites or content) when necessary. 

​The CLE training was recorded and will be available as part of BEST’s online training suite in the near future. Event speakers included: Valiant Richey, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; John Lapham, General Counsel, Rover.com; Mike Pfau, Partner, Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala; Sandip Soli, External Counsel, Washington Hospitality Association; Christian Williams, Partner, Cedar Law, PLLC; and Mar Brettmann, PhD, Executive Director, BEST.

We are delighted to introduce you to Project Concern International (PCI), an amazing non-profit organization that recently joined the Employers Alliance.

In March of this year, our Executive Director and Program Manager, Mar and Ngoc, delivered training to this incredible organization on the risks human trafficking can pose for employers and how to mitigate those risks through BEST Practices. As an employer of over 700 individuals and leaders, PCI quickly saw how employers can make a positive impact in decreasing labor trafficking, sex trafficking, and sex buying. Not only did they join the Employers Alliance, they are also working diligently to launch the San Diego Business Alliance Against Trafficking.

Founded in 1961, PCI is an international non-profit organization headquartered in San Diego, California. They are dedicated to empowering communities to end hunger, enhance health and overcome hardship around the world. With an annual operating budget of nearly $65 million, PCI employs over 700 staff, serving more than 10 million people annually in 16 countries across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Since its founding, PCI has maintained a continuous presence in San Diego through its U.S. & Border Programs office, implementing a broad range of community-based activities that improve the health and well-being of vulnerable populations on both sides of the border.

PCI directly addresses the problem of human trafficking through its gender equality and prevention programming in San Diego County, including:

• Youth Empowerment and Education- PCI’s Girls Only! program is designed to promote self-esteem, develop life skills and inspire positive motivation in girls, aged 8 - 15, who are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation. (Watch this two-minute video to learn more: http://ow.ly/ajMY30ecLkR).  PCI is expanding its youth programming to include boys starting in January 2018. Activities and curriculum will focus on respect, integrity, self-worth, and gender equality as well as addressing social attitudes harmful to young males. Both programs aim to build the resilience of vulnerable San Diego youth through the provision of mentoring, peer support, and coping skills within a safe and trusted environment. 
• Demand Reduction- PCI is a collaborative partner of the CEASE Network, which represents 12 cities dedicated to fighting the demand for illegal commercial sex throughout the U.S. Each city is dedicated to innovating, testing and sharing strategies with a proven impact on deterring people from buying sex.
• Public Awareness- PCI conducts “Human Trafficking 101” trainings to broaden community awareness of the issue and increase the number of sex and labor trafficking victims who are identified and rescued. The curriculum builds the capacity of community-based organizations (i.e. clinics, churches, and nonprofits) to identify victims and refer them to the appropriate resources.
  
  

We feel lucky to have found a partner like PCI. They have not only committed to implementing policies in their workplace to prevent trafficking, but are also leading the effort to ensure that employers in their area have the same opportunity. Welcome to the Employers Alliance, PCI!
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For more information on PCI, please visit their website www.pciglobal.org. To learn more about their efforts to address human trafficking (and to check out their virtual reality video on the Girls Only! program), visit https://www.pciglobal.org/human-trafficking/. If you’re in the San Diego area and would like to join the San Diego Business Alliance Against Trafficking, learn more about PCI’s anti-trafficking work, or find out how you can support their efforts, please contact Bianca Morales-Egan at bmorales-egan@pciglobal.org or (612) 805-8043.

​Currently I work with a law firm that specializes in education issues. I have advised and litigated both sides of Title IX issues involving sexual assaults in a school environment. I worked to protect children in multiple roles since I was a supervisor at a psychiatric facility for children a long time ago at the age of 22 (possibly an inappropriately young age for such a role). While there, children – boys and girls – disclosed sexual abuse to me, sometimes by family members. I have also litigated sex abuse cases against children. I have seen the damage caused by sexual abuse of children from a variety of perspectives, in dozens of cases. We must do everything in our power to prevent it.
 
Those who rape and assault children can legitimately be labeled "monsters” - they’re easy to condemn. But prostitution and the victimization of those involved in the sex trades is frequently ignored, if not celebrated, by mainstream culture. The widespread acceptance of prostitution by the general society must stop.
 
I began volunteering with BEST in order to contribute to this movement. The evolving approach by law enforcement to prosecute the buyers of sex rather than the prostituted boys, girls, women, and men is a welcome change. Still, there are far too many people engaging in sex buying to rely on the criminal justice system alone. Every attorney who advises employers and plaintiffs’ attorneys need to be informed about this crime as it relates to the business environment.
 
This upcoming CLE will discuss legal strategies that can empower victims to cut off the assets that help traffickers engage in their illegal trade. In addition, employers can help reduce rates of sex buying and trafficking, which is simply a proactive and sound business decision. Businesses can take steps to shield themselves from financial liability, public relations disasters, claims of “hostile work environment,” and so much more. Please join me and a panel of incredibly knowledgeable attorneys on November 8th to learn more about sex trafficking and the vital role you can play in preventing victimization.

by Brooke Wilzen, Community Engagement Manager

BEST is thrilled to announce that long time supporter, StolenYouth, has committed to supporting BEST with a $55,000 grant for 2017-18. Founded in 2011, StolenYouth is dedicated to both raising awareness of human trafficking and supporting organizations, like BEST, which are committed to preventing this crime and helping victims.
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I had the wonderful opportunity to connect with one of the founding members of StolenYouth, Jane Charles. Jane is a StolenYouth Board member and was one of the driving forces behind founding StolenYouth. She has watched the organization grow by leaps and bounds over the last 6 years. 


BW: What originally inspired you to start StolenYouth? 

JC: I have been involved in the film industry for the last 22 years. I’ve done everything from feature films and TV series to commercials and PSA’s. My good friend, Director Jeffrey Brown, brought to my attention a book called Sold by Patricia McCormick. The book is told through the eyes of a young Nepali girl who is sold into a life of prostitution in India. At that point, I committed to work with Jeffrey to tell this story through film. We spent the next several years traveling to India and Nepal to speak with thousands of survivors to gather research and data for the movie. The stories we heard from those survivors have not only stuck with me, they changed my life. 

When I returned home, a group of women who had supported the making of the film and I realized that human trafficking wasn’t something that just happened overseas. It happens right here. We wanted to do something to change that. So, we started StolenYouth. 


BW: Stolen Youth has been one of BEST’s earliest and most critical funders. What led to this? 

JC: Early on, our board president, Patty Fleischmann, brought a group of us together to discuss creating a safe house for survivors of trafficking but, through research, we found out that there were a number of outstanding leaders in this field in Seattle that needed support.  We realized that to have the most impact we needed to fight human trafficking on all fronts. From there, at the recommendation of the StolenYouth board and Melinda Giovengo from YouthCare, we brought together a coalition of organizations. BEST was part of that very first coalition. Since then, it’s been amazing to see the growth and success of these organizations. 


BW: What accomplishments are you most proud of since starting StolenYouth? 

JC: It’s been so gratifying to see BEST’s growth and success. Mar and team have done a great job of bringing the business sector to the table. The programs that BEST has that educate and communicate how businesses can be involved as part of the solution is wonderful, and something StolenYouth is proud to support.  
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When we started StolenYouth and our luncheon, I also never imagined how much support and growth we would have in just 6 years. Our first lunch we had hoped for 400 people, and actually ended up with over 700 in the room that very first year. At last year's lunch we filled the ballroom with over 950 people. We could not have done this without the amazing commitment and dedication of our board members and the Seattle community. It’s amazing to think we have raised almost $5 million since we started.


BW: What is one thing you wished everyone knew about this crime? 

JC: I wish everyone knew that the crime is right here; it happens right in our own backyard. Also, I wish people knew that it’s not an impossible issue to interrupt. Just knowing about it, and being aware of it can make a huge difference. Recently, several media stories came out of people who have stopped this crime just by being aware. If something just doesn’t seem right, they act. 

People can also help raise awareness around this issue, by joining us for the Stolen Youth Luncheon on April 19, 2018 . More information can be found on our website at www.stolenyouth.org. 

BEST is honored to be a part of Stolen Youth and we look forward to our continued partnership to end human trafficking. 

by Brooke Wilzen, Community Engagement Manager

The 14th Annual Northwest Region Charity Golf Tournament and Auction was held August 23rd in Aloha, OR at the beautiful Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club. This year, I had the privilege of volunteering on behalf of BEST. Mar and I spent the day keeping golfers hydrated and cool by delivering beverages via golf cart. Spending the day on a stunning golf course in perfect summer weather was a far cry from my normal workday which is filled with emails and conference calls, but such sacrifices must be made once in a while.  

In all seriousness though, I want to extend a thank you, on behalf of all of us at BEST, to the attendees, sponsors, and organizers who put together another fabulous event this year. Thank you for continuing to support our Northwest community and BEST’s work to create a world in which no one is trafficked. A special word of thanks to Arvind, Tina, and Alkesh Patel, who continue to be the driving forces behind this annual event. This year’s tournament raised an impressive $70,000! These funds will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, Autism Society of Oregon and Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST).

In the past few years, AAHOA’s support has enabled BEST to spread the word about our online Inhospitable to Trafficking training course, which trains hoteliers how to recognize and prevent human trafficking from happening within their hotels.

“Our partnership with AAHOA has been fantastic--AAHOA is thoughtful and strategic in their stand against human trafficking. Their generous donation to BEST this year will enable BEST to support AAHOA’s social media and communications regarding the impact of human trafficking on the hospitality industry, gather new legal research for hotel owners, and provide ongoing training for their members,” said Dr. Mar Brettmann, BEST’s Executive Director. 

This year’s tournament was a huge success, attracting over 140 golfers from across the hospitality sector. After finishing the course, golfers and volunteers headed to the clubhouse to have dinner, pick up awards and bid on some wonderful silent auction items. I met many wonderful people, enjoyed the innumerable networking opportunities, and saw lots of happy faces. It seemed that all of the attendees and volunteers were having as good a time as me. 
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Founded in 1989, AAHOA (www.aahoa.com) is the largest hotel owners association in the world, with more than 15,000 small business owner-members. AAHOA members own almost one in every two hotels in the United States.

On July 31, 2017, Dr. Mar Brettmann of BEST provided training to a group of over 200 hotel owners and associates at the Independent Hoteliers Conference hosted by the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). Independent hotels are the properties that are not aligned with national brands.

“Owners of these hotels face unique risks if they are unaware that human trafficking could occur on their premises,” explained Dr. Brettmann. “By getting themselves and their staff trained to identify and prevent human trafficking and commercial sex work, owners are able to increase safety and security and protect their properties from civil and criminal liability.”

Dr. Brettmann showed several clips from the online training that AAHOA sponsored. The training helps hotel staff understand the facts about sex trafficking and the harm it causes. For example, people frequently assume that sex trafficking victims are from outside of the US. In reality, the majority of victims who are recovered are vulnerable American children and women. Knowing this fact enables hotel staff to recognize children who might be harmed by traffickers and buyers.

Hotel staff may also feel uncomfortable when they suspect prostitution. Or maybe they look the other way because they believe that it is a victimless crime between two consenting adults. In reality, the typical age of entry of youth into prostitution is between 13-15 years old. And once someone is exploited for sex at such a young age, it is very difficult for them to escape. Understanding this reality enables hoteliers to extend empathy and a helping hand to people who are prostituted.

The training Dr. Brettmann provided also covered strategies for independent hoteliers and their staff to be vigilant of labor trafficking as well. She shared the example of a recent trafficking survivor from a hotel in Seattle. The young woman came to the US to live with an uncle and attend school. But, when she arrived, her uncle found a job for her, controlled her movements, took her paycheck, threatened her, and abused her in his home. She finally got help when a colleague and neighbor noticed the abuse she was experiencing and helped her escape. Hotel owners can help to prevent this type of victimization by posting signs for employees that provide information about their rights in the US and the human trafficking hotline.

“BEST feels extremely privileged to support AAHOA as they work hard to raise awareness among their members,” said Dr. Brettmann. “Our training and ongoing support for AAHOA would not be possible without our generous sponsors and donors who want to empower hotel owners and staff to end this terrible harm of children, women, and men.” 

BEST extends a special word of thanks to the sponsors of our hotel training: The Northwest Chapter of AAHOA, StolenYouth, Red Roof Inns, and Carlson Family Foundation.